牌 (pái): signboard, plaque, plate, tablet, brand, trademark, mahjong tile, domino, playing card
牌 (pái) is a Chinese character meaning “signboard.” Classified as HSK Level 4 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 片 (semantic) and 卑 (phonetic). It ranks #1253 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 牌 page. Its radical form 片 (slice) appears in many related characters such as 片 (piàn, thin piece), 版 (bǎn, a register).
Definitions
- signboard
- plaque
- plate
- tablet
- brand
- trademark
- mahjong tile
- domino
- playing card
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 牌 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 牌
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | HSK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 品牌noun | pǐn pái | brand | 5 |
| 牌子noun | pái zi | sign | 4 |
| 金牌noun | jīn pái | gold medal | 6 |
| 名牌noun | míng pái | famous brand | 5 |
| 奖牌noun | jiǎng pái | medal (awarded as a prize) | 6 |
| 银牌noun | yín pái | silver medal | 6 |
| 铜牌noun | tóng pái | bronze medal | 6 |
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 车牌noun | chē pái | vehicle license plate |
| 打牌verb | dǎ pái | to play mahjong or cards |
| 牌照noun | pái zhào | (business) license |
| 玩牌 | wán pái | to play cards |
| 招牌noun | zhāo pai | signboard |
| 王牌noun | wáng pái | (card games) trump card |
| 盾牌noun | dùn pái | shield |
| 广告牌noun | guǎng gào pái | billboard |
| 纸牌noun | zhǐ pái | playing card |
| 冒牌货noun | mào pái huò | fake goods |
| 牌局 | pái jú | gambling get-together |
| 摊牌verb | tān pái | to lay one's cards on the table |
| 扑克牌noun | pū kè pái | poker (card game) |
| 冒牌verb | mào pái | fake |
| 桥牌noun | qiáo pái | contract bridge (card game) |
牌 appears in 100 compound words: 14 as the first character, 77 as the last, and 9 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 牌 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
牌字由12笔画组成，结构很巧妙。
pái zì yóu bǐ huà zǔ chéng , jié gòu hěn qiǎo miào .
The character "牌" consists of 12 strokes and features a remarkably ingenious structure.
...爱凌、李方慧摘得自由式滑雪女子U池金、银牌
. . . ài líng , lǐ fāng huì zhāi dé zì yóu shì huá xuě nǚ zǐ U chí jīn , yín pái
... Ailing and Li Fanghui won gold and silver medals in the women's U pool in freestyle skiing
...冰球击败加拿大 1980年以来首夺冬奥金牌
. . . bīng qiú jī bài jiā ná dà 1 9 8 0 nián yǐ lái shǒu duó dōng ào jīn pái
... Ice hockey beats Canada to win the Winter Olympic gold medal for the first time since 1980
...变自己?你只是没看见自己手握“内向者的王牌”
. . . biàn zì jǐ ? nǐ zhī shì méi kàn jiàn zì jǐ shǒu wò nèi xiàng zhě de wáng pái
... Change yourself? You just don't see yourself holding the "trump card of an introvert"
用金牌当屏保,宁忠岩不过是把冷板凳坐热
yòng jīn pái dāng bǐng bǎo , nìng zhōng yán bù guò shì bǎ lěng bǎn dèng zuò rè
Using the gold medal as a screensaver, Ning Zhongyan is just sitting on the cold bench to heat up
洗面奶什么牌子好?聚焦公认好用的洗面奶年终榜TOP....
xǐ miàn nǎi shén má pái zǐ hǎo ? jù jiāo gōng rèn hǎo yòng de xǐ miàn nǎi nián zhōng bǎng T O P . . . .
What brand of facial cleanser is good? Focus on the year-end list of facial cleansers that are recognized as easy to use....
他曾经被授予金牌。
Tā céngjīng bèi shòuyǔ jīnpái.
He's been awarded a gold medal once.
把扑克牌放在橡木桌上。
Bǎ pūkèpái fàng zài xiàngmù zhuō shàng.
Place the deck of cards on the oaken table.
玩牌作弊是错误的。
Wánpái zuòbì shì cuòwù de.
It is wrong to cheat at cards.
公园的告示牌上写着「请勿践踏草地」。
Gōngyuán de gàoshìpái shàng xiě zhe "qǐng wù jiàntà cǎodì."
The park sign says "Please keep off the grass."
Character Family
片 Radical Family — Characters sharing the slice radical
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 牌 (pái) mean in Chinese?
What's the difference between 牌 and 脾?
How many strokes does 牌 have?
What is the radical of 牌?
What are the components of 牌?
What are common words containing 牌?
What characters sound the same as 牌 (pái)?
Is 牌 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 牌 with real-time feedback
Trace stroke sequences, hear spoken pronunciation, and build lasting retention with spaced repetition in the HanziFeed app.